Lee Hyun-woo

Lee Hyun-woo (; born March 23, 1993) is a South Korean actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor, and later featured in the television series Master of Study and To the Beautiful You (2012). Lee gained recognition with his role as a North Korean spy in the 2013 film Secretly, Greatly, as well as the films The Con Artists (2014) and Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area (2022). He played lead roles in the television series Moorim School: Saga of the Brave (2016) and The Liar and His Lover (2017).

Career 2005–2011: Beginnings as a child actor Lee began his career as a child actor, building up his resume by playing roles in a number of large-scale productions, such as The Legend, The Great King, Sejong, The Return of Iljimae, and Queen Seondeok. He rose to fame for his role in Master of Study, a Korean screen adaptation of Japanese manga Dragon Zakura. The same year, Lee took to the stage for the 2010 musical production of Footloose, where he played the leading role of Ren.

In 2011, he and K-pop singer Yoon Doo-joon (from Beast) began hosting the music program Music on Top for cable channel JTBC. He was then featured in IU's music video for the song "You and I". Lee further expanded his acting scope in historical drama Gyebaek, revenge thriller Man from the Equator, and made a guest appearance in medical drama Brain.

2012–2018: Rising popularity In 2012, Lee co-starred in To the Beautiful You, the Korean television adaptation of Japanese manga Hana-Kimi, with his role based on the character Shuichi Nakatsu. Despite low ratings during its domestic run, To the Beautiful You led to increased Korean Wave exposure for Lee in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and China. He and co-star Hwang Kwang-hee were later announced as the new hosts of live music show Inkigayo. His breakthrough continued when he landed a major role in 2013 box office hit Secretly, Greatly, an action-comedy film in which he played a North Korean undercover spy disguised as a high school boy. Lee also sang "Ode to Youth" for the film's soundtrack. He became the first male celebrity to be appointed ambassador of the Puchon International Film Festival. In 2014, he and real-life best friend Park Ji-bin (both were child actors and belong to the same agency) appeared in the travel/reality show Real Mate in Saipan. Lee next played a hacker in the heist movie The Con Artists. He then starred in Northern Limit Line, a 2015 naval thriller about the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong. The film sold 6,024,894 tickets (grossing ), making it the most-watched Korean film in 2015. In 2016, he starred in the fantasy youth drama Moorim School: Saga of the Brave. Initially slated for 20 episodes, the drama was reduced to 16 episodes instead due to low ratings. In 2017, Lee starred in the drama The Liar and His Lover, the Korean remake of the Japanese manga Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru alongside Red Velvet's Joy. In 2018, Lee released a digital single titled "Twenty-Six", prior to joining the army.

2022–present In 2022, Lee returned to the small screen with the Netflix drama Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area, his first work on the small screen in five years.

Personal life Military service On February 19, 2018, Lee began his mandatory military service as an active duty soldier. He completed his military service and was discharged on October 19, 2019.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2005 Baribari Jjang 2006 Holiday A Dirty Carnival young Min-ho 2007 Hwang Jin Yi young Nomi 2010 The Loneliness of Butcher Boy Tae-shik Short film 2011 GLove Kim Jin-man 2013 Secretly, Greatly Rhee Hae-jin 2014 The Con Artists Jong-bae 2015 Northern Limit Line Park Dong-hyuk The Beauty Inside Woo-jin 2022 Hero Yoo Dong-ha 2023 Dream Kim In-sun 2024Dog DaysHyeon

Television series

Web series Year Title Role Notes 2025 Bound at First Sight Gao Song

Music video appearances Year Title Artist 2005 "Jump" Haha 2011 "You and I" IU 2012 "First Love's Melody" Acoustic Collabo 2013 "I Love You" Akdong Musician 2016 "Ordinary Love" KCM 2019 "Above the Time" IU Year Title December 8, 2011 – March 14, 2012 Music on Top December 16, 2012 – January 26, 2014 Inkigayo

Theatre Year Title RoleRef. 2010 Footloose Ren McCormack

Discography

Singles TitleYearPeak chart positionSalesAlbumKORGaon Collaborations"Your Face" (with Louie of Geeks) 2016 54 KOR: 33,201 "Feel So Good" (with O Broject) — "Twenty-six" 2018 —As featured artist "It's a Lie" (O Broject feat. Lee Hyun-woo & Vromance) 2015 —Soundtrack appearances "Ode to Youth" 2013 — Secretly, Greatly OST "One Thing" 2016 —Moorim School: Saga of the Brave OST "I'm Okay" (Joy feat. Lee Hyun-woo) 201785 KOR: 22,513 The Liar and His Lover OST "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region.

Awards and nominations + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominated work and the result of the nomination Award Year Category Nominated work Result KBS Drama Awards 2008 Best Young Actor The Great King, Sejong 2012 Best New Actor Man from the Equator SBS Drama Awards New Star Award To the Beautiful You 22nd Buil Film Awards 2013 Best New Actor Secretly, Greatly 34th Blue Dragon Film Awards SBS Entertainment Awards Best Newcomer Award Inkigayo 9th Asia Model Awards 2014 New Star Award Secretly, Greatly 16th Seoul International Youth Film Festival Best Young Actor 52nd Grand Bell Awards 2015 Best New ActorNorthern Limit Line 30th Korea Best Dresser Swan Awards Rising Star Award 49th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival 2016 Best Supporting Actor Award